


Forgiveness

by the_Rebel_Trooper



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:49:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26950930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_Rebel_Trooper/pseuds/the_Rebel_Trooper
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	Forgiveness

The Boiling Rock. The place used to be home to many of the worst prisoners in the Fire Nation, but now it was home to every horrible person who sustained it in the first place. Yon Rha, leader of the Fire Nation's attacks on the Water Tribe was there, festering in his own filth.

Up in the most solid, contained room, was the used to be Fire Lord, cold and afraid. Her hair was a mess, and her fire was weak. It was barely able to keep her warm, much less break out.

She couldn't stand looking at her reflection, so she broke the mirror. The room used to be filled with every luxurious item she needed and wanted, courtesy of her brother, but now everything was scattered and torn. The cabinet with art supplies was broken, her beauty supplies were burnt to a crisp, and even some of her own cooking supplies were down to just melted pans.

She sat there, shivering in the cold, panting to keep her fire going. Zuko even provided her coats and blankets, so she could still be warm without making fire, but she burned them all too.

She thought it was time to end it all, end the pain, end the suffering, end the cold. Maybe she could meet her mom in the spirit world and ask her why she loved Zuko more than her. She picked up a tiny shard of broken glass, holding it to her wrist, ready to slice.

Although before she could, the doors started sliding open, leaving only the bars. As she looked through, she realized who it was: Her brother.

"Azula."

"Zuko."

He looked at her, his composure calm and steady, just like that of his mother. He also wasn't wearing his usual fire nation regalia, instead the outfit he wore were Earth Kingdom clothes. He sat down, not wanting Azula to feel inferior to him. He knew she hated that.

The princess set the shard down. "I suppose you're here to gloat, to lecture," she scowled, "maybe sprout off some of Uncle's old, silly, pieces of advice?"

He didn't answer her, not wanting to humor her while she was being hateful. Instead, he reached into a leather bag, pulling out a wooden ball. "You wanna play?" he asked. He remembered asking her this when she was young, and he knew what she would always do.

Bouncing the ball through the bars, it landed in Azula's hand as she set it on fire, bouncing it back to Zuko.

Zuko sighed. That's what she always did when they were younger. She would tell him yes, and then burn whatever they were playing with.

However, he didn't give up hope. He took out another ball, bouncing it to her. She looked confused, but did the same as she did before, setting it on fire and bouncing it back to her brother.

He repeated the process, each time getting Azula angrier and angrier. By the end of it, there were probably a dozen burning wooden balls behind him.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked, becoming more and more annoyed.

He didn't answer. He just sat there silently.

She pounced to the bars. "Tell me why, god damn it!" she screamed, her tears starting to freeze to her face.

"Do you really want to know?" he answered, pushing the leather bag behind him. She refused to answer, instead just backing up to the back of the room. As the leather bag reached the guards' feet, the bars opened, leaving Zuko completely defenseless.

Azula looked at him in complete shock, her eyes wide and mixed with emotions. She knew that Zuko was dumb, but he wasn't this dumb. What was his endgame, what was his strategy, why in the world did he come up here to do this?

The Fire Lord sat, defenseless. He knew that it was all up to Azula from here. As he looked into her wide eyes, he quickly saw them turn from shock to anger.

She was now panting fire as the coolers to the room turned off, her eyes filled with the glow of her flames. Anger, despair, hatred. Every emotion she had kept bottled up, she could finally let loose.

"I guess I'll finally get to celebrate becoming an only child!" she howled.

As she started screaming and running towards Zuko, Zuko knew one thing about Azula: She always lied.

With that, Zuko closed his eyes, feeling the the warmth surround him, unlike the warmth he had felt years ago when he went to face his father in an Agni Kai or when he had faced Azula, more like the warmth he felt when he trained with the original Masters of Bending, the warmth he felt when he joined The Avatar and his friends, the warmth he felt when he reunited with his uncle. It was not like any fire he had ever felt.

Opening his eyes, instead of being engulfed in flames, his sister's arms were wrapped around him. The tears melted off her cheeks, soaking into his robes. Her face buried into his shoulder, she squeezed him tightly. He hugged her back, letting his chin rest on her head.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, "I'm so, so, sorry!"

"It's okay," he assured her, his tears now starting to dampen her hair, "there's no one here to hurt us, there's nothing to be afraid of."

With that, the two siblings sat there in silence, the only sound being the princess of the Fire Nation, finally free, crying on her brother's shoulder. She wasn't born lucky, and he wasn't lucky to be born. The best luck they had, was the luck of being born brother and sister, and being together again.


End file.
